March 16th, 2013

Owl pellets contain the indigestible remains –  fur and bones – of prey eaten by owls.  Mrs. Pavlove’s grade 4 class dissected some at school  – they were studying food chains in the Habitats and Communities unit.  This is what they had to say…

Dear Mr. Rasberry,
Our class dissected the owl pellets today. They all wanted to say THANK YOU VERY MUCH and that they all enjoyed it ~ except for one student who has a weak stomach but said he still liked it from afar 🙂
Here are some comments that the kids want you to know:
“I found a deer mouse skull with the jaw attached!”
“I found a vole skull!”
From two students, “Our favourite type of bone was the hip bone.”
” It was the best day EVER!!!”
There were some bones that we weren’t sure about so that will have to remain a mystery! They are all saying comments out at once, but those will also need to remain a mystery because the bell just went so we have to go now.
Thanks again!
From your friends in Grade 4

Note:  In this post from last fall, http://outdooredguys.wordpress.com/2012/11/22/barred-owl/ you can watch a video of a barred owl swallowing a mole.  The next day Fraser Gibson and I watched the owl regurgitate a pellet from it’s perch in the forest.  It sits proudly on my desk at Blair and contains the bones of that very same mole!!